The following article appeared in the Courier News on 8/5/2005.SOMERVILLE -- Construction on the proposed Veterans' Memorial Plaza, between the Somerset County administration building and county jail on Grove Street, will start by Labor Day.County freeholders are set to award a $1,019,670 construction contract to Flanagan's Contracting Group of Hillsborough at Thursday's meeting for construction of Veterans' Memorial Plaza.

Pending approval of the contract, plans call for ground to be broken for the project on Labor Day, said Michael Amorosa, county engineer.

"The end goal is to dedicate it by Memorial Day 2006," Amorosa said.

Members of Chapter 27 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart met with the county freeholder board last year about building the plaza. A park was originally planned for the site -- which housed an armory -- when the new county administration building was constructed in 1990.

The former county National Guard armory was used as an emergency communications center; after that moved, the building was demolished in 1999.

During the past year, Richard Close and other county engineers have designed a plaza for the 60-foot-by-120-foot vacant lot with a grassy knoll.

The design features:

* Veterans' monuments placed around a 50- to 60-foot circle with an embossed star in the center. In the center of the star will be flags representing each of the five armed services branches.

* Space around the perimeter for benches and for veterans groups to place monuments. Military Order of the Purple Heart and the Merchant Marine have submitted requests for monuments.

* Two stone medallions from the old armory will be placed in a brick monument between the veterans' plaza. There will be an open area for public gatherings.

* Plans call for a stage to be built in the rear of the plaza, with a large open space planned for the area between the veterans memorial and the stage.